THERE was a feeling of deja vu at South Tees Motorsports Park last night where Redcar Bears snatched the Premier League points in a dramatic last heat decider for the THIRD week running.

And guest No 1 Carl Stonehewer sealed victory against Rye House by winning the deciding heat - just as he did last week against Sheffield.

There was no shortage of thrills in an enthralling match which ended 47-43 in the Bears’ favour, but could have gone either way.

And, while the fans went home happy, manager Brian Havelock was clearly mightily relieved as well as pleased.

“It was a cracking meeting,” said Havelock, “but nerve-wracking for the staff and riders.

“These last heat deciders are hard work and they’re getting me down! The last thing you want is to lose by two points because it knocks everyone’s heads.

“Midships, when they got back level again, I thought our chance had gone. They were coming stronger and Chris Neath was getting out of the gate.

“I had to put Stoney on the rack and say ‘you need to win the last heat’ again, just as I did last week.

“But he’s the sort of guy who can just turn it up. He’s like my Gary, he’s a one off, and the cream comes to the top all the time.”

The Bears were never headed but their visitors twice drew level as Neath, Tai Woffinden and Steve Boxall displayed a liking for the STMP track.

With Mat Tresarrieu and Chris Kerr still not looking 100% after their recent injury-enforced absences, Stonehewer and James Grieves had even more responsibility placed on their shoulders.

But the star of the night was 16-year-old Josh Auty who weighed in with an impressively-earned 11-point total. This lad never knows when he’s beaten and is getting better with every meeting.

In the race of the night, he and Tresarrieu battled past Ray Morton and Adam Roynon to turn a 1-5 into a 5-1 and put the Bears back ahead after Rye House had levelled for the first time.

And, with the scores at 39-39, he came from the back again in heat 14 to beat Tommy Allen for his third win of the night.

Just as importantly, debutant Arlo Bugeja found a way past Roynon to seal a 4-2 and edge the Bears ahead going into the final heat.

Though Bugeja’s final total was 2+1 he was on the pace and looked a decent prospect.

“He rode very well,” agreed Havelock. “He put the bike in the right place on the corners, which is a good sign.

“It was a really hard meeting for him to come in at. If we’d been riding against someone like Berwick, he’d have scored five or six points.”

With two points in it, Stonehewer wrapped up victory by taking the chequered flag in the final race with Grieves a fighting third behind Neath.

Rather surprisingly the visitors elected not to use the impressive Woffinden in that race, choosing instead Boxall who had earlier done the Bears a favour by getting excluded for delaying the start of heat 13.